Slaying His Daemon
by insane songbird
Summary: Lucius Malfoy is dead, Draco killed him but he is innocent and guilty all the same. Harry wants to understand and they make a deal. Oneshot


Disclaimer: Everything belongs to JKR, okay?

A/N: This is a Gen-fic, meaning it is about the story and not the pairing. There is no real pairing just the mentioning of something I wont say any more about right now.

I didn't know for a long time if I really WANT to write this but then it got me after all and here it is.

This is my first fic that is posted in English (thanks to my longer stay in Canada this summer) so just tell me what you think of it and how my English is, okay?

Slaying His Daemon

"You are a disgrace for this family, you disgusting bastard!" The voice of Lucius Malfoy bellowed throw the room like a thunderstorm seeking to crush everything with its wrath. The vials on the shelf burst into a hail of glass splinters drawing blood where they hit the skin of the young man on the receiving end of this outburst. Some of them stuck where they sunk into the flesh but he didn't seem to care to pull them out.

"Our family died long ago. What I do now is none of your business." The answer was calm and cold. Blood seeped unnoticed down the pale cheek and soaked the white collar of his chemise.

"Crucio!" Rage contorted the face of the older man into a mask of cruelty as he watched his son drop to the carpet writhing in pain, panting hard as the curse finally stopped.

Lucius roared at the top of his voice. "I won't let you dishonour me like that. I'll rather be the last of the Malfoys." He drew his wand up again pointing at the still shakily heaving chest of his opponent who brought himself into a standing position again.

"Father, don't do this!", he whispered adjuratory.

The sneer Lucius gave him was the face of a daemon lurking over easy prey. The other man made a defensive step backwards.

"Avada…"

The second part of the curse did not leave the mans lips as his son drew his wand faster then he would have given him credit for and shouted: "Sectumsempra!"

Lucius was flung to the ground as several deep gashed opened over his chest, face and neck. He screamed in agony for a moment spluttering his blood all over the room as he shook in pained spasms. Then his form went still and he silenced as the river of red liquid stopped flowing.

One of the horrendous cuts had opened his carotid artery drawing his lifeblood out of his body.

As the two Aurors emerged from the memories again Harry was shaken by the scene they had witnessed.

"Looks like self defence to me, Harry."

He turned toward Tonks who seemed to be a little green in the face herself. It was not like they hadn't seen enough people kill or die so far but that didn't make it easier to watch, especially when a father tried to kill his son.

Harry nodded thoughtfully and looked at Malfoy who, still in a body bind, sat on a stool in the far corner of the room staring at his knees. The two Aurors had been called because they both had something connecting them to the men involved in this incident. Tonks because of her family and Harry because of his history.

Now he wasn't so sure it was a good idea to come. It made him sick. Harry had never experienced a real relationship to his father thanks to Voldemort. But he had always assumed that it was affected by care and love and even though he despised the Malfoys he had expected them to be the same way in their family.

After what he had heard the night Dumbledore died on top of that Hogwarts tower he was sure the Malfoys would care for their family members with as much commitment as everyone else did.

Something must have changed that in the past years and Harry wanted to know what it was.

Maybe his curiosity was just a substitute act to distract him from what had been occupying his mind for hours before he had been informed about this case.

Harry visited the Durseleys about twice a year, an agreement they had come to after Harry defeated Voldemort. It had been Petunias idea and Vernon didn't seem to particularly care about it. His visits were just ordinary days not like Christmas or any other holiday which they spent each their very own way.

There had been no problems so far until yesterday…

Harry had come in the afternoon like announced and was prepared for the usually stiff afternoon tea his aunt would offer him and the neutral talk they would have (ignoring topics like his childhood, his work, magic or anything weird). They would chat about the weather, the garden, the neighbour's cats, Dudley's work in Vernon's company and Harry would listen to all the gossip about the Muggles living in Privet Drive.

But when he arrived that Saturday afternoon he was struck by a scene that hadn't occurred in the Durseleys' home since Harry had left after his seventeenth birthday.

Petunia was sitting on the couch weeping as Vernon with a head looking like a pumpkin crossed with a tomato clenched and unclenched his fists repeatedly.

"He is old enough to look after himself and if he chooses to do THIS then he is no longer welcome to live under my roof, Petunia." Vernon spoke through gritted teeth and paced with a mixture of utter shock and anger displayed on his face from one end of the living room to the other.

"Oh Dudders!", Petunia sighed deeply and shook her head.

Harry had left again for they were in no good shape for his visit, obviously. He was still wondering what Dudley could have done to make Vernon throw him out.

Now he had witnessed two families fall apart within two days and it was about to shatter his believe into the love between parents and their children.

He turned back to Tonks again. "I still would like to find out what's behind this if it's okay with you. Something must have made Lucius really angry."

She nodded not concealing her own curiosity and sadness about the happenings. "Well we checked and he was not under the Imperius or anything. He was all himself when he tried to kill his son."

Harry swallowed hard and nodded again. Tonks left the room with an encouraging pet on the shoulder.

As the only person still alive and able to tell him what had happened was sitting on the other side of the room he turned around quickly and went to see what he could find out.

He sat down on a chair opposite to him and released the body bind.

"Thank you for giving us the memory willingly Malfoy." His eyes skimmed over the blood stains on the clothes and the skin of the young man. It wasn't all his own but some big dashes were obviously from his father's wounds. The pale face was covered in little cuts and dried blood. Glass was sticking to it every now and then.

"Why shouldn't I?" It was only a whisper but Malfoy's voice was steadier then Harry had expected.

"Well," the Auror started eyeing the other suspiciously. "We both know that you can do enough Occlumency so we could never force any memory from you. You've showed in your last trial." That was true. Malfoy had managed to keep all of his memories for himself but those he wanted to give out. But still he had served two years in Askaban for his crimes. Occlumency did not help against Veritas Serum after all. And Harry being witness was bad for him, too.

"But I would be crazy to keep them for myself when I didn't do anything illegal."

Harry was shocked. "You slit open your fathers throat with a dark curse!" He spat that out with utter disgust.

Malfoy brought up his eyes for the first time and pierced Harry with his stares. "He tried to kill me. He wanted me to die at his hand by an unforgivable!" A long pause stretched into their conversation until Malfoy averted his gaze to Harry's chin. "And just for the protocol: Sectumsempra is not in the red list of the ministry, even though I don't know why, and actually I remember, very vividly indeed, you using it some years ago… on me."

That struck like a hit into his face. "Yes."

"And don't try to tell me that your sorry he is dead."

"I won't." No, Harry was not sorry Lucius was not alive anymore. Harry himself had protested as the ministry had released him from Askaban after the seven year sentence they set for the raid of the ministry and the other crimes they could prove.

That had been about six months ago.

"What made him so angry?", Harry's curiosity asked before his brain could follow.

"He was a very irascible men since he left Askaban," stated Malfoy.

"That's not the answer to my question." Harry crossed his arms and took his part in piercing Malfoy with his gaze. "If you want me to put this case down as self defence, I want to know everything."

Malfoy shook his head wearily. "You can't tell anybody it wasn't self defence. Not with that memory in store."

Suddenly the blond man laughed unhappily, something that made Harry's spine shiver. "Believe me, you don't want to know everything. You couldn't stand the thought."

Harry straitened himself in an upright position his pride taking over. "What makes you believe that? I can take it."

The sides of Malfoy's mouth twitched. "You're to _nice_ and to idealistic to even think of it," he said his face turning a minimal shade of green.

Harry's eyes widened a little as he thought of the possible meanings of this. "Malfoy, what have you done?" His nerves were tense as the chord of a bow.

The grey eyes of his counterpart wandered down to his hands. "Nothing illegal."

"Well, then tell me!" Harry didn't fully manage to keep out all of his anticipation.

"No."

"TELL ME!"

"No."

"Everybody will think you are a murderer even if this case is closed as self defence. If you want me to tell the press that there was nothing illegal behind this, you have to persuade me." He said this with a mean smile on his face and watched Malfoy as he swallowed hard at that threat. None of the released Askaban inmates had an easy life and Harry was pretty sure that Malfoy did not fancy his to get even more complicated.

"A person died here and as long as I have _any_ doubt on the circumstances I can use Veritas in you without any problem."

The Auror watched very closely as Malfoy seemed to think about his words. Finally he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Alright. I want a deal."

Harry's ears went wide open and he nodded fiercely.

"_IF _I tell you everything that led up to my fathers death without lying or leaving out something important and there is nothing illegal in it, you will not tell anyone – and I mean _anyone_ – what I told you. You will tell everybody that I didn't do anything unlawful and that it was self defence. As long as there is nothing illegal in what I have done. No matter how sick or perverted or disgusting you might think it was." Malfoy had leaned forward and crucified Harry with his stares.

Now the Auror felt even more curiosity then ever before. He needed to know what had happened. "Alright. As long as you have not broken any wizarding or muggle law I will stay silent about what you tell me and I will wipe out all the doubt about you acting in self defence when you killed your father."

"Swear it!" This was Malfoys last condition.

"I solemnly swear." Harry did not hesitate.

Malfoy nodded defeated. "I thought you would."

"Okay, start from the beginning."

It was near afternoon already. Harry had given Malfoy a popper treatment by the mediwizard who had already waited for his okay. It would have been against the Auror's principles to let him bleed or suffer when he cooperated like that.

Malfoy was silent for a long moment and Harry started wondering if he had changed his mind as he stared down at the still bloodied sleeves of his shirt.

Finally the other man made up his mind and started talking. "First it might be necessary to say that what happened today was not really unexpected. Let's say that I thought more then once about how I could save myself if the necessity occurred." The slowly spoken words were chosen thoughtfully.

"The relationship between me and my father was never really heartily but as you should already know I really looked up to him for most of my life and although we hardly did things like hugging and stuff it was clear to me, that he would do nearly everything for me." A sad smile formed around his lips and Harry was drawn into the story completely watching Malfoy's every move.

"Sadly this changed when he came into prison and most of all with the death of my mother." The grey eyes came up and studied Harry. "Did you know the Dark Lord killed her to punish me for my failure? You said in court that you were up on that tower this night. If you heard everything, you know that I and not Snape should have killed Dumbledore. It was my duty and I knew what might happen if I fail. Well, and fail I did!" His voice was bitter and his eyes shaded darkly.

Yes, Harry remembered this night as if it was yesterday and he knew exactly what the other meant, so he nodded slightly showing his understanding.

"I did not have the chance to talk to my father until the end of the war, or better the end of my own sentence in Askaban. I don't know who told him that he was a widower but he never really knew what had happened until I told him nearly three years later at my first visit the day after I was free again. I had to tell him what had happened because I think he deserved the truth. But that changed everything. I was glad that there were the bars between us because he raged for at least fifteen minutes. After that he could never look at me again without this accusatory note to it."

Harry felt a lump build in his throat. So Lucius gave his son the blame for Voldemort's doings.

"After he calmed down he must have noticed that I was the only one left for him, as he was for me. We came to a silent agreement that I would not come to him if not necessary for he would only get angry but that I would take care of everything for him and what was left of our family. I hardly visited him every few months. Finally he was set free again and the real trouble began. The prison and the loneliness had changed him. He was not the man I had known as my father anymore."

Harry frowned and as Malfoy did not seem to explain himself any further he asked: "What do you mean?"

A shrug was his answer. "I don't know how to explain this. He was just so angry and… well."

Harry didn't know why he wanted to know so much more about this but he couldn't really understand how someone could change so much that his only son wouldn't see his father in him anymore. "Well then show me. You must have a memory that makes me understand what you mean." He pointed towards the pensive.

Malfoy looked uncomfortable with this but as Harry did not back away from his suggestion he drew one silver memory from his temple and placed it in the bowl.

As Harry sank into the memory he could hear someone shout.

"You sold it? What in the name of the devil drove you to sell it!" Lucius Malfoy was pounding with his fist on a huge desk in front of a fireplace.

"I had no other choice", stated his son matter for fact like.

"This was in our family for generations. You had no right to sell it!" Another loud thud was heard.

"As was nearly everything we had left after the war." In comparison to his father Draco was very calm.

"Yes, and you should have been proud enough of it not to sell it like junk!" Lucius was foaming.

"What did you expect me to do? It's not my fault that you made enough illegal _financial_ decisions to make the ministry force us to pay enormous refunds. If I hadn't paid them of they would have confiscated much more valuable things then those properties. We didn't need them anyways."

"You incompetent brat, I'm glad that your mother didn't have to witness this anymore. You're a disappointment to this family."

"She would have understood and I don't know why you don't. There was no way to prevent this." The words about his mother had hit Malfoy and his voice was stained.

"Our master would have punished those who dared to rob us." Lucius' eyes gleamed dangerously.

"Don't be ridiculous father. He is dead, you know this as good as I do. And even as he was still alive he did not give a flying fuck for when they raided our house and when you were thrown into prison. HE didn't care if I died or not and… and he killed mother. It was the darkest day for the Malfoys when we went on his side." Anger burst out of the younger Malfoy's eyes mixed with disbelieve for the ways of his father.

"No…" Lucius' voice was dangerously low. "He will return and revenge all our pain. You are the one who is guilty of Narcissa's death and only you. How dare you questioning our loyalties. Your mother died for our cause because of your treachery."

With more force then Harry would have ever expected Lucius darted forward and clutched his sons throat with his hand heaving him up against the wall. "I would kill you for this if you were not the only one left of _my _blood!" The fingers of his hand flexed to claws and buried themselves in the suddenly very fragile looking neck of his son.

Panic was written on Draco's face in huge letters as he struggled for air and pounded against his father's arm. After a minute that seemed like an eternity Lucius dropped him and he slid down the wall to hunch on the ground hands wrapped around his abused neck.

"Never question me again boy!"

Harry was drawn out of the memory without even noticing it. His mind was still racing about what he had witnessed. Lucius Malfoy must have been mad. He really seemed to think that Voldemort would return.

He looked up still shaken and saw Malfoy watching him. "Why didn't you ask anyone for help?"

Suddenly Malfoy started to laugh. Harry thought about the possibility that he was mad, too, as the other answered. "We were both convicted Death Eaters. Everyone hated us. They would have loved to see us kill each other. What would be better for the community then one of us dead and the other in prison again? Who do you think would really want to help me?"

Harry knew he was right. "Then why didn't you leave?"

"And where would I go? I didn't have anything. With the end of my fathers imprisonment all the Malfoy values went back into his hands. My mothers heritage was part of that. I didn't have anything if he didn't give it to me and as a former criminal no one would give me a job paid well enough so I could live from my salary, as I didn't even finish school."

"Right." Harry could not avert his gaze from the young man opposite to him. There were so many facts he already knew about Draco Malfoy but he never really thought had any effects on his life.

Malfoy only nodded. "I realized that I had to stop this or I would not manage to live on like this much longer."

"What?" Harry did not really understand.

"Now I might shock you, Potter… Do you know what my father hates most?"

"Muggles?"

"Disgrace. To himself and to his family. He is… was very proud of his family's honourable history. That's one reason why he hates muggles. But he hates nothing more then for someone to infamise his name." Malfoy pronounced every word so Harry would understand him completely.

Then he drew a deep breath. "I am gay." He waited for Harry to work through his surprise patiently. "If he had known he would have freaked. He probable would have tried to kill me or he would have put me under Imperio for the rest of my life making me marry a pureblood and produce a better heir then myself. Actually I think the second possibility was more likely." There was no hint of a joke as he said this and Harry's heart dropped.

"I had no idea." Harry's words were just a whisper but Malfoy had heard him none the less.

"No one has. I could never even dare to really approach anyone because my father was watching me like a hawk. I knew I could not live on like that." A hint of desperation was glowing in the grey eyes of the last living Malfoy.

"What did you do?" The Auror felt adrenaline seep through him as he waited for the climax of this cruel story of which he only knew the outcome.

"I thought about it for days and the only solution I could come upon was death. One of us had to die. I decided that the only way was to make him so angry that he would make his threats true under my conditions. He would kill me in his irascibility or I would kill him in self defence. I knew it would come down to it someday but I would not know it before it was too late." Malfoy looked into Harry's eyes with a cool gaze.

"I would decide when this moment would be so I could be ready."

Even in the danger of repeating himself Harry only said: "What did you do?"

"I decided to use my homosexuality for this. I always had to hide it and find my partners to be just for the night being so that was nothing new for me. I only had to think about someone who would trigger of my fathers temper for sure."

Harry felt a little sick at this. Sleeping with someone to make your father want to kill you was not really what he would like to do.

"Who?", his curiosity asked without his brain protesting anymore.

"Actually I thought about you." Malfoy averted his gaze so he did not see Harry gape like a fish on dry land.

"Wha…? What? You told your father we had sex?" His voice was shrill and hysteric.

"No. I did not want to risk that. I had to show him something to be on the sure side." Harry exhaled a breath he didn't know he held. The shock still stuck in his body. Not that Malfoy was not attractive but… wait a moment! This was too weird.

Mofoy already went on. "I found someone even better, someone my father despised even more then you."

Harry was stunned. "I wonder where you found someone like that!"

"At your home – your former home, actually."

Now Harry was speechless but he didn't need to say anything because the other man already continued.

"I… I only found your old address and I went there to see if… well, you know." Harry could feel his face flush like a tomato. "I didn't want to go and knock or anything, so I just hung around in the neighbourhood seeing if I could see you come or go. I didn't. But there was this guy. He eyed me all the time he passed by and I knew he was interested. I bet nobody noticed because, well, he did not really look like he fancied boys. I saw him go into your house and I knew he was this disgusting muggle cousin of yours I heard about and I knew he was perfect for my plans."

Harry went as pale as bleached paper. "D- D- Dudley?" He could only stammer but the thought burned his very brain. "But he is…"

"Everything father hated and even more." Malfoy spat that one out like it was poison on his tongue. "He is a muggle, stupid, fat and ugly, gay and to top all that he's related by blood to Harry Potter. I knew Lucius would kill me if he ever knew I had been with someone like that."

Harry choked on that. Dudley was one of the most disgusting men he had ever seen. "But he is not even gay."

Malfoy's face contorted in a disgusted motion. "No, probably not. But he liked to try it. I went to him the next day and got fucked." Now Malfoy turned a strong shad of green. "It was the most disgusted thing I have ever experienced and when your uncle came in I nearly puked right onto the carpet." The sick look on Malfoy's made Harry believe him and his stomach turned.

"That's why uncle Vernon kicked him out."

"Did he? I left as soon as possible, apparated right into the bathroom and vomited for at least half an hour. I felt like no shower in the world could wash this disgusting feeling away. But I did it for a reason. So I went to my father and as he asked me where I had been I opened my mind and as sure as I had been about it he noticed and used Legillimency this very moment. I showed him my disgrace and he snapped. He wanted to kill me right then. The rest you have seen. I defended myself with a spell that is not illegal and not directly meant to kill but still he died."

Malfoy looked him right into the eye and bent forward a bit trying to keep his composure as he said: "You wanted to know and I told you that you would not stand it. It was wicked and disgusting what I have done. But there is nothing illegal in it. It was Dudley's free decision to sleep with me as I offered. And it was my fathers free decision to kill me when he knew." His voice broke in that moment and he pulled his eyes down to the floor as a tear rolled down his cheek.

"If he had loved me he had understood and none of this would have happened. Had he passed this test without throwing an Avada Kedavra at me, I would have been free to do what I want, and I would never have questioned him again because he would not have questioned me. Had I died it had still been better then my life before today, so I risked it. But now I'm free, too, and I'm alone. Don't think it was easy to do this. I was not the son he wanted anymore and he was not the father I needed anymore, so we ended up destroying each other."

The pale hand of the blond went up to his face as he wiped away the wet streaks on his face.

Harry saw what he meant. Draco Malfoy was destroyed in his soul.

Finally he looked up again and his eyes were unbelievably sad. "Do you know enough now?"

As Harry left the room he met Tonks again. She had a cup of coffee for him and waited for him to tell her the most important things. "Harry you look shaken. What has he told you?"

"A lot, but nothing important." He answered as nonchalant as possible. "It was a long day but no new information."

"So, what does that mean?"

"He hasn't done anything illegal."

THE END

A/N: That's it! I did this whole fic in one day, this is extraordinary for me – especially because I got two other fics lying right now with chapters I work on for weeks now and readers who are waiting… - but this was because suddenly there was a structure to my idea that I could not ignore anymore. I started around two in the afternoon and now its midnight…

This is a fic I had the idea for when Cat told me about a D/D fic. While I despise this pairing myself I have to say, that there is some potential that didn't let me go anymore. Now I is out and I think the result is very interesting.

What did you think?

Review Please!


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